Senators Offer Postal Rescue Plan

A small bipartisan group of lawmakers announced a proposal to save the U.S. Postal Service that would make it possible to cut Saturday service in two years, close post offices and buy out 100,000 workers. Read a summary of the bill here. The bill would allow the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service tap a $6.9 billion overpayment to the Federal Employment Retirement System, a move that several House Republicans have opposed, dubbing it a bailout. The bill would direct $1.7 billion of that overpayment to offer up to $25,000 cash buyouts or up to two years of service credits toward retirement for experienced employees near retirement. If 100,000 workers take the buyout, the move could save $8 billion, according to the U.S. Postal Service. The rest of that money could be used to pay down debt that the U.S. Postal Service has taken on to pay bills, said Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, who was among those who helped craft the deal. Congress would need to pass the proposal, which has yet to be reviewed by House Republicans or the White House. The Postal Service thanked the Senators for their efforts and said they currently reviewing the provisions included in the bill to determine how it addresses their financial crisis.

Source: Washington Post

USPS Network Optimization Update

New and updated network optimization information for mailers is now available on the Postal Service's "Information for Mailers" web page [Link]. A second set of FAQs specifically for mailers, and a new document containing more information related to each of the facility study sites announced September 15, 2011, were recently posted on the site. The new set of FAQs contains 49 *new* questions-and-answers based upon ongoing meetings and discussions with mailers; these FAQs supplement the initial set of FAQs posted in September. The new "Consolidated Information on Facility Study Sites" document contains additional information on all 252 sites selected for Area Mail Processing studies.

Source: U.S. Postal Service

Youth Enjoy Receiving Catalogs

According to survey results published in the Direct Marketing Association’s 2011 Statistical Fact Book, 18 percent of young people between the ages of 22 and 24 say they will respond to direct mail. That’s up from numbers published last year. How could this be? Direct mail is often seen as an old (and not so sexy) marketing channel. Why are direct mail postcards, catalogs, and other mailed print formats increasing in popularity—especially among young people—when activity on digital, mobile and social media platforms are thriving? Last year, a study conducted by ICOM, a division of Epsilon Targeting, found that a lot of people between the ages of 18 and 34 preferred to receive certain marketing communications via direct mail rather than through online media.

Source: The Direct Marketing Voice

Magazines Are Here to Stay

This one is for the record books. Samir Husni, aka "Mr. Magazine" is the director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi, School of Journalism, is reporting at least 107 new titles arrived to the nation’s newsstands for the first time during the month of October. It has been a long-long time since the number of new magazines arriving to the newsstands exceeded the 100 mark. There were a lot of specials, a lot of book-a-zines and a lot of titles hoping to publish four times or more. In fact 24 titles from the 107 were launched with the hope that they will publish at least four times a year. Go and judge for yourself, you do not have to take Mr. Husni’s word for it. Just see what the folks who produced these 107 new titles have to say about the magazine industry, whether their magazines are specials, one shots or 12 times a year. They are all out there and Mr. Magazine has bought each and every one of them.

Source: Mr. Magazine